Treasure Hunters: The Search For Pandora's Box
by CaityAndNaeHeartCookies
Summary: A group of archeologists, bored of dinosaur bones and pottery shards, hunt down an artifact rumored to have powers so great, it can cause devastating effects...
1. Museum Break In

**Alrightie-O! This is my first shot at a serious fic, so excuse me if I slip humour into it, although I'll try my utmost hardest to keep it to a minimum! Also, if it seems a bit boring at the start, please attempt to read on, as once I get the hang of it I'm sure it'll get better!**

**Also, about Tenten and Temari's last names. Ama was originally thought to be Tenten's last name (so I read) because it was often used in certain dubs as her name. Although it turns out that it was really the same kanji for Ten, and it means 'heaven'. That is my understanding and if I have made an errors please inform me! And as for Temari, I know Sabaku means something along the lines of desert, but she needed a last name and it was the only thing I could think of xD. Oh, and Tenten is the same age as the others, but Temari is a year older.**

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_**Mission Objective:**__ Obtain Pandora's Box_

_After Prometheus' theft of the secret of fire, Zeus ordered Hephaestus to create the woman Pandora as part of the punishment for mankind. Pandora was given many seductive gifts from Aphrodite, Hermes, Charites, and Horae (according to __Works and Days__). For fear of additional reprisals, Prometheus warned his brother Epimetheus not to accept any gifts from Zeus, but Epimetheus did not listen, and married Pandora. Pandora had been given a large jar and instruction by Zeus to keep it closed, but she had also been given the gift of curiosity, and ultimately opened it. When she opened it, all of the evils, ills, diseases, and burdensome labour that mankind had not known previously, escaped from the jar, but the one thing that was good that came out of the jar was hope._

_There is no reason to think Pandora acted out of malice in opening the jar, for she was exercising her curiosity, and also when she saw what was let out of it, she quickly closed it. (A.N: Info obtained from Wikipedia)_

_**Item Location:**__ Believed to be in the possession of Multi Billionaire Mr James Tyler. He owns multiple mansions and private museums, but one museum in particular has caught my attention, located on 91 Boller Street, Seattle. Tight security, but shouldn't be a problem for you girls. I know, I know, you girls do tombs and ancient civilisations long lost to the world and artefacts that actually exist, but this is a request from the government, as they believe he may be after the key for the box and if he gets his hands on it, all hell will break loose. I have no proof that this artefact actually exist, but the government wont leave me alone as they are convinced._

_Good luck._

_Temari_

"Ok, let's go."

Sakura closed the lid of the PDA and nodded to her comrades as they prepared their parachutes. The group consisted of sixteen year old Sakura Haruno, Tenten Ama and Ino Yamanaka, members of a group of archaeologist bored of dinosaur bones and pottery shards and instead were hired by the government. Their goals: To retrieve dangerous ancient artefacts.

Once Ino had finally decided which pair of identical black stealth boots she was going to wear (They all had matching outfits consisting of black stealth boots designed by Temari herself, black mini shorts loaded with pockets and simple black hooded tank tops, as well as black gloves, a backpack, a belt equipped the latest gadgetry and weapons and communication headsets), the girls finished adjusting their equipment and readied themselves.

"Ino, our landing location?"

Ino reached down into her pack and pulled out her trusty laptop, the screen covered in maps of various buildings and plans of attack. After a quick mission briefing, everyone was ready for action.

"Everyone set?"

"Yep!"

"Aha!"

After a group high-five and a nod to the pilot, the hatch of the plane opened and the girls jumped out into the night sky.

Landing gracefully atop a cinema across the road from the museum, they discarded their parachutes (for later collection by one of Temari's contacts) and headed for the door leading to the stairwell. After some tinkering with the lock using a bobby pin by Tenten, the girls crept down the stairs and into the nearest air vent, closing it securely behind them. They proceeded downwards and slipped out a vent at the base of the building and headed towards Mr Tylers mansion.

"Air vents...So easy to slip through, yet so unguarded..."

"Yeah, which is good for us Ino..."

Tenten stopped and stared at the high, solid brick wall surrounding their destination, a rather creepy looking mansion, with well tended gardens, a large metal gate and, unknown to the average passerby, a large, multi-story museum below the ground. She then averted her gaze to a nearby tree, her expression thoughtful.

"Hey Tennie, where are you going?"

Tenten proceeded to climb the tree and, pulling out a pair of infra red binoculars, began to scan the grounds of the building which she could now so clearly see. Rather disappointed, she put the binoculars away and climbed back down the tree.

"Pfft, well this will be no fun. Scale the wall then more air vents. Tight security my arse, there aren't even any security cameras!" Tenten huffed.

Sakura just rolled her eyes at her teammates thrill seeking attitude and proceeded to set up a grapple to get them over the wall. After a rather easy and uneventful climb they made their way into the gardens. The girls cautiously tip-toed through the rose bushes, carefully avoiding the invisible lasers that criss-crossed the ground, visible thanks to their infra red glasses. They came up to the air vents and slipped inside. Sakura reached up and turned her communication headset on.

"Temari, we're in."

A crackling voice was heard from the headset.

"About time! What were you guys doing? Sightseeing?"

"Hah, no, Tenten randomly decided she was gonna go tree climbing..."

Tenten glared.

"Anyway, head down the air vent until you reach an intersection..."

The girls crawled through the cold, grey vents, following Temari's instructions.

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_Hinata's POV_

Nope. Nup. Ummm, nope, not there...Is there not a single book in this library with anything on Pandora's Box? I glanced up at the 5 story library with stairs, platforms and bookshelves lining the walls of the circular room. The base is an old castle located in Britain and the library is located in the west tower. I then reverted my glance to the massive pile of books lying on the desk next to me and with a sigh thought about how long it's going to take me to put them all back. Suddenly, a rather dusty book fell in front of my face.

"Hinata, page 457!!"

The book was found by Sakura and Tenten during one of their adventures in Greece, hidden in a heavily guarded room deep under the Tomb of Archimedes, a Greek mathematician. It had a plain, tattered leather cover, but the pages within were covered in Greek writing and detailed diagrams. I turned to the page Naruto, who was making his way down the ladder, had shouted out.

"So Hinata, did I do any good?"

The blonde beamed with pride at his 'discovery'. He was always ecstatic when the opportunity arises to help us girls in our explorations. I quickly read through the page, my eyes widening at what the diagrams and text revealed. I jumped out of my seat and ran towards the door, eager to show Temari.

"Thanks Naruto!!!"

"That's Ok! Anything else I can do?"

"Could you please put the books away?"

I only just managed to catch Naruto horrified expression as he glanced at the pile before I shut the door and raced down the halls.

_Normal POV_

Temari sat in front of one of her many computers, tapping away at the keyboard whilst giving instructions to the three girls in Seattle. A 3D diagram of Mr Tyler's Museum, complete with dots to mark the location of the girls, occupied her screen.

"Temari! Tem – "

Hinata raced into Temari's work room, tripping over a few of the many wires and gadgets that littered the floor along the way. She was soon silenced when Temari raised her hand.

"Ok, now you have to split up. Ino, head to your left and follow the vent..."

Hinata impatiently hopped from one foot to the other.

"Ok and once you reach the control room, knock out the guard and tap into the security cameras. Meanwhile Sakura and Tenten, just chill and I dunno, fiddle with some of the new gadgets I gave you or something. Just wait for further instructions from Ino."

She released the button on her headset and turned to Hinata. Before she could say a word, Hinata shoved the book in front of her face.

"Hinata, you know I cant read Greek, transl – " She trailed off and a shocked expression crossed her face. "Well, I'll be damned..."

She didn't even have to read the writing.

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Ino hauled herself up the air vent and into a small alcove leading to the control room. Using some nifty gadget of Temari's, she slowly pried the grating open and slipped into the room. Crawling along the ground, Ino got within two metres of the guard, who was sitting in front of the security monitors.

"Yeah, we appear to have some strange activity in the south wing, Bob, Ted, check it out."

_South wing. That's where Sakura and Tenten are! _ Ino glanced around. She had to warn her friends and quick! The guard grunted as he shifted in his seat and reached for one of the many doughnuts that littered the benches, oblivious to the blonde girl slowly creeping up behind him. With a swift flick of the hand, Ino struck the guard at the base of his head, knocking him out cold-she now had full control of the entire building. Quickly she scanned the numerous screens, looking for any sign of her friends and the gallery containing Pandora's Box.

"Bingo..."

Ino almost whooped with joy at the site of the artefact, but instead contained herself and pulled her laptop out of her bag, connecting it to the security cameras.

"Alright, Temari, I'll be sending the security cam images to you."

Again, the crackly voice.

"Whoo, I cant wait..." Temari replyed, her voice oozing with sarcasm. "Well, did you find it?"

"Yep! Its located on the third floor of the underground gallery."

Another voice joined the conversation.

"Alright, so can Tennie and I go now? Time to open up a can of whoop arse babay!"

"Uuuh, Sakura...Thats just lame..."

Tenten joined in.

"Well, Sorrr-ry! Iwas just –"

"Just..get on with it..."

"Sorry, Temari...Lets go Ten!"

"Alrightie-O!"

Ino turned her attention to the guards.

"Bob, Ted, don't worry 'bout it, just a mouse."

She watched as the two guards shrugged at each other and returned to their post, giggling at their stupidity...

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"So...are you sure your sources are....correct?"

The figure rolled his eyes as his rather incompetent sidekick walked into a table, causing a loud crash. His sidekick quickly sprung back too his feet and dusted himself off, glancing around nervously.

"Uhh, yes..yes I believe so..uhh..yeah.."

"You had better hope so.."

The figure rose from his chair and left the room, his sidekick sighing with relief.

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"There is defiantly something wrong here...

The two girls walked down the clean hallway, the rubber bottoms of their shoes squeaking each step. Different paintings, artefacts, trinkets, statues and other various priceless objects covered the walls and filled class containers on the floor. Sakura stopped to gaze at a rather ugly shrunken head, its eyes staring blankly back.

"This thing is fake!"

She looked over to where Tenten was studying a gold necklace, or more gold plated as Tenten soon found out when small specks of the gold came off as she scratched it, revealing a cheap brass surface beneath.

"Same here, and that painting! What a sucker, everything here is fake..." Tenten gestured to the hall at large. "And again, no security cameras, laser beams, traps..."

Sakura looked into the next cabinet, full of ancient Chinese scrolls, again fakes. She continued down the hall, her eyes settling on a small box.

"Aaah, there you are, oi Tennie! I found it!"

Sakura waved Tenten over, who was still ranting about how boring this all is and that she'd prefer tombs full of dangerous, hidden traps over halls that smelt strongly of bleach. She was still going when she finally reached Sakura.

"-and what, so we just take it and stroll out the door, grinning at guards who sit there wishing us a good night, this Mr Tyler guy more then happy to be rid of it then everything is hunky dory?"

"I dunno Ten, I guess we just take it, Ino should have shut everything off by now..."

Sakura cautiously reached for the box, her hand closing gently around it. Carefully, she lifted it from its podium and slipped it into her bag. Everything was still and quiet.

"Well, that was exciting, real dramatic Haruno..."

"Shut up..."

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Ino watched as her friends made their way up the museum halls, looking at the exhibits.

"Come on guys, don't be such tourist..." She muttered to herself as she scanned the computers and security screens for any signs of a trap. "Oh crap..."

Ino tapped away at one of the computers, attempting the switch off the invisible laser beams surrounding Pandora's box, her movements getting frantic as each attempt proved unsuccessful. She whipped her head back to the screen showing her friends as they walked closer to the box, and the laser beams.

"Sakura, Tenten, stop!"

She spoke frantically into the headset, watching as her friends continued along the hall, oblivious to their friends attempt at communication. She continued banging away at the keyboard, getting desperate as Sakura and Tenten came closer to their target. She tried the headset again, but with no success. _They mustn't work underground...._She watched as Sakura cautiously reached for the box, her hand passing through the beams, picked it up and placed it into her backpack. Nothing happened. Ino sat back and sighed with relief. Either it was faulty or she did turn it off. She was soon brought back out of her relaxation though as a loud siren tore through the room and red light danced across the walls. Looking at the other rooms, Ino noticed the alarm was also going off in all the other rooms, minus the museum. _Hmm, smart, alert the guards to burglars, but the burglars themselves don't know about the trouble they are in and think they got away with it. Very clever indeed..._

Ino was brought out of her thoughts by the sound of yelling and gunshots erupting over the headset. Pulling the painfully loud headset from her ear, Ino tossed it to the ground, waiting for the noises to subside. When all was finally quiet, she pulled a torch from her pocket, illuminating the room again, and hopped of her chair and picked the headset back up.

"Temari?"

No response.

"Temari? Hinata?"

Still no response.

"Oi, are you guys there? Naruto!"

Silence...

"Shit..."

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**Dun dun dun dunnnnnn! Whats happened to Temari and the others back at the base? Whats within the book? The answer to these questions and more shall be revealed....whenever I get around to it I guess...Muwahaha!**

**Sorry if it isn't very exciting at the moment, this is my first try at a serious story, but it shall get more exciting, hopefully! If people like it, I shall continue this story and am hoping to do a series.**

**My inspiration for this story is from Tomb Raider, and as Caity and my sister pointed out, Pandora's Box is also in one of the movies, and I was all like "Oh yeah...".**


	2. The Ruining of the Hair

**Chapter two, dump-diddy dum-dum dun-dun!!! Yeaaah, no idea where that came from....Anyway! If you enjoy the story or have any suggestions, please review! And as for flames, well I love flames cause they give me something to use to roast my marshmallows if I cant find my lighter or a match ^^**

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"Where on Earth are they??"

Ino tapped away furiously at her keyboard, trying to connect to Temari's computer, Sakura's PDA, something! She nearly screamed in frustration when an error message flashed onto her screen for like the hundredth time. She sat hunched over, head in her hands, at a loss for what to do.

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"Tell ya what Sakura, I could really go for a taco right now...."

"Thats nice Tenten, now can you hurry up?"

The two girls were making their way back up the ventilation system, completely oblivious to the sirens, lights and Ino's greying hair.

"Or even a burrito....We'll hit Taco Bell after we ditch this dump, what do ya say?"

"There you two are, stuck in a building full of security thingies going crazy and all you can think of is tacos? "

"Ino! We were wondering where you were!"

"Yeah well stop wondering, fantasising about tacos and fixing up your hair in the reflection of your belt buckle-"

Sakura's head shot up and whipped around, trying to locate a camera Ino could be watching them through, clipping back a stray lock of hair.

"Thats right Sakura...I see everything......Muwahaha, anyway! You better get yourselves outta there quick smart, the sirens up here are deafening andMr Plod and his gang of clones are gonna be down there soon, so we gotta high tail it while we can!"

"Why didn't you tell us sooner?"

"Weeell, the many electrical devices in this building were interfering with the communications headsets signal, so I'm also worried that someone might have been capable of tapping into our conversation, so hurry."

"Ok captain!"

_Sakura's POV_

We made our way up the cold ventilation system, which was large enough to stand in, our ears straining to catch even the slightest sound of the security alarms or the guards scuffling about. Nothing. It was scarily quiet, except for the sound of our muffled footsteps and rather loud breathing. You never quite notice how quiet it is until you are actually listening for something.

Suddenly, I jumped when a loud crash echoed through the ventilation, shaking the flooring. Glancing back over my shoulder, I only just caught the site of one of Tenten's buns as she fell through the flooring.

"Tennie!" I gasped as I attempted to catch her, our fingers brushed together as she fell to the floor of the room below. I lent through the hole in the ventilation, gesturing for Tenten to quickly climb back up, but I had to quickly pull myself up as a large group of guards came crashing through the door, yelling and pointing at Tenten, who scrambled to her feet and took off in the opposite direction. I was left with no choice but to continue, cringing at the sound of gun fire, praying for Tennie to be safe.

_Normal POV_

Ino hastily packed away her laptop and make up, which was strewn across the bench. After writing a cheeky 'hah-hah' across the guards forehead in cherry-red lipstick and a quick photo with her mobile, she nodded her head in satisfaction, grabbed her bags and climbed back through the grating. She hurried through the venting, desperate to get back home and yell and possibly throw whatever's within reach at Temari for not answering and making her panic, she even had a zit appear! A ZIT!!! Oooooh that girl was gonna pay.....

After a lengthy crawl, Ino gracefully tumbled out onto the damp grass, breathing in the cool, night air. Now, to wait....

She didn't have to wait long until she was brought out of her thoughts by the sound of Sakura falling out of the vents. Sakura quickly spotted Ino and waved, a goofy grin spread across her face. Ino glared at Sakura for interrupting her thinking, she had only thought of 64 windows from which would be a good place to throw Temari out of when they got back. Her glare faded though as she realised Tenten was missing. Sakuras grin also went when she realised what Ino was thinking. She giggled nervously.

"I'm sure she'll be fine Piggy! Remember, remember that time she, she fell out of the plane and we panicked 'till we remembered it was a just a stimulation?"

"Yeah, but Sak-"

"And, and that time we called the hospital 'cause she chocked on a spoon?"

"Sak-"

"She survived didn't she? There we were panicking and, and stuff, and she just grinned and laughed, and, and, and...."

Ino gently hugged Sakura when she started crying, tears rolling down her cheeks as well.

"Its all my fault Ino! I left her! I left her and now.....its all my fault...."

The two girls sat on the grass, crying. Suddenly a loud crash erupted above their heads, showering them with colourful shards of stained glass. Once the glass had ceased falling, they gazed up and saw none other then –

"TENNIE!!!!"

Sakura and Ino leapt into the air, glomping their friend and knocking her to the ground.

"Ten, I am highly disappointed in you..." Ino sat up and folded her arms, a rather snobbish look on her face. "Not only did you break a very pretty and expensive window, but you got it in my hair! Do you know how many washes it's gonna take to get it all out???" She began waving her arms about to emphasise.

"Oh shut up, you sound like Neji.... Plus, if your gonna break out of a fancy building, you might as well do it with style!!! Boo ya!!"

Ino and Sakura rolled their eyes as they all stood up, wiping their faces on their gloves.

"Well, lets ditch this ice-cube stand and return to da crib ma homies!"

"Oh yeah, there's one other thing I've got to tell you..."


End file.
